The present invention relates to a cart for bulk filling intermodal containers and in particular for filling containers with agricultural produce, such as grain, beans, seed, etc., either in the field as the crop is harvested or from storage.
Current grain production, transportation and handling systems are largely based on a bulk commodity approach. Many crops are harvested by a combine or similar machines which, in addition to harvesting the crop, separates the grain, bean, seed, etc. from the remainder of the plant material. The crop is off-loaded from the harvester into a grain cart, truck trailer, etc. and transported to a farm storage facility, local grain elevator, a processor, etc. At the farm storage facility, the grain may be dried and stored in a bin for later transport from the farm. If delivered directly to a local elevator, the grain may be dried, cleaned, etc. and stored there. The crop is later transported by truck, rail or barge to a food processor or to a terminal elevator for transport overseas. The bulk commodity system is highly efficient at moving large quantities of crops. One draw back of the bulk commodity approach is the limited ability to differentiate crops based on various crop characteristics. For the most part, crops are graded and classified according to a board of trade classification. For example, much corn is sold or graded as number two yellow corn and meets the minimum characteristics established by the board of trade for that classification.
Crop processors and food producers have characteristics other than those used by the board of trade that they seek to utilize in food or other product production processes. Recent advances in plant science have produced crops having differentiated output traits such as high oil crops. Other crops have been developed for certain pharmaceutical or nutriceutical properties. Biotechnology has used genetic modification to produce crops having certain specialized agronomic properties. While these genetically modified (GMO) crops provide benefits to the producer, some consumers prefer to avoid genetically modified food products. In response, many regulators have adopted or are considering regulations that require food products to be labeled to indicate the presence and/or absence of GMO ingredients. Other consumers desire food products that are produced organically. Organic food production largely avoids the bulk systems due to small volumes and the inability to properly segregate the organic products from the non-organically produced products.
For the various reasons described above, it is desirable to provide an alternative to the bulk commodity system. There is a need for a system that allows for segregation of crops having different characteristics while still providing efficient transportation of these products.
One way to segregate crops and maintain the segregation throughout the transportation system is to ship crops in containers, such as an intermodal shipping container. Once containerized, the products can be shipped to the processor without additional handling of the crop or opportunity for commingling with other crops. In addition to maintaining the segregation, containerized crops are handled fewer times, reducing handling induced grain damage. Currently, some crops are shipped in bulk containers. Most of these crops are placed in containers at elevators or processing facilities. While some crops have been containerized at the farm site, the lack of efficient and economical means for filling and handling containers on the farm site prevents wide spread use of containers for transporting grain and other agricultural products.
The present invention provides a cart for use in bulk filling a shipping container at the point of harvest or at a storage facility. The cart preferably has a wheeled chassis so as to be portable. In a preferred embodiment, the cart is used in combination with an agricultural tractor and utilizes power from the tractor. The cart includes a main frame supported by the wheels. The frame supports a hopper for receiving a crop (hereinafter xe2x80x9cgrainxe2x80x9d) and a conveyor that moves the grain from the hopper and into a container. The container is filled through either an upper door at the nose end of the container or through the container rear doors with a bulkhead installed inside the container. The bulkhead is open at the top, allowing the container to be filled over the bulkhead.
The hopper receives grain either from a combine, grain cart or from a discharge port of a storage facility. The container remains on a truck trailer while it is filled. The height of the cart is adjustable to meet with a container on trailers of various heights. The cart can also be lowered to meet a container that has been placed on the ground. The wheels on the cart are extendable laterally to straddle a truck trailer such that a rear portion of a trailer can be backed under the cart until the conveyor meets the container door. The wheels can be retracted to reduce the width of the cart to meet transport width requirements for moving the cart.
The conveyor is a belt conveyor having a width of about 24 inches. The belt is supported on a trough shaped metal base between the conveyor ends. Cleats on the belt engage the grain to accelerate the grain to the belt speed. The belt is inclined at an angle and operated at a speed necessary to throw the grain into the container at one end and travel along an arcuate trajectory to the opposite end of the container preferably without striking the top of the container. This allows the container to be substantially filled without extending the conveyor into the container. By not extending the conveyor into the container, the need to coordinate withdrawal of the conveyor as the container is filled is eliminated. In a preferred embodiment, the conveyor is inclined at approximately a 15 degree angle and the belt is operated at about 2200 feet per second. This angle and speed allows a twenty foot intermodal container to be filled in less than five minutes. Depending on the grain and moisture, the container will reach its weight limit before it is filled by volume. The weight limit may not be the container weight limit but the weight limit for road transport of the filled container. The road weight limit depends on various factors including the number and spacing of axles supporting the container. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9csubstantially filledxe2x80x9d is either by weight or by volume.